Hitojichi
by Neanda
Summary: High school student Mizuno Ami receives the shock of her life when the shop she's in is robbed. Things only get worse when the robber abducts her afterwards. Imagine her surprise, though, when her captor turns out to be different from what she expected. Ami/Makoto


Hi everyone, and welcome to a new Sailor Moon fanfic! The idea for this little story originated from reading another, where Makoto was imprisoned for robbing a convenience store. Fun. In case you lovely readers are wondering about Chapter 2 of Terminal Velocity, I'm working on that too. But I just couldn't resist putting this idea on paper.

Now for the word list. There will be no need to grab one from another of my stories.

hitojichi - hostage  
>irashai(mase) – welcome to the store<br>yen – Japanese currency; I've generalized the yen-$ ratio at 100-1  
>arigato (gozaimasu) – thank you (very much)<br>hai – yes  
>-san – suffix used for formal addressing<br>kami-sama – God (kami meaning God, -sama is a suffix used as a sign of significant respect)  
>keisatsu – police force<br>onegai (shimasu) – please  
>damare – shut up<br>yamero – stop  
>iie – no<br>Mizuno Ami - in the Japanese language, family names are said first

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters portrayed in this fanfic. The Sailor Moon franchise was created by Naoko Takeuchi. No Japanese words were harmed during the making of this fanfic.

Warning: This story contains shoujo-ai, or female/female content. Don't like, don't read.

**~Chapter 1~**

_**Taken**_

Mizuno Ami strode down the sidewalk slowly, enjoying the fading afternoon sun. As a pre-med student, pretty much all of her free time had been devoted to study. Not that this was out of the ordinary for the young woman; she had always been fascinated with studying. Learning new things and expanding her knowledge of the world was one of the things Ami liked most – only her swimming hobby came close.

Some thought she was incredibly intelligent and devoted all of her time to books, what with all the studying she did. Recently the girl had heard rumors circulating at school that she had an IQ of over 300. Ami wasn't sure about that, but she did know that her near-perfect grade average wasn't earned by talent alone. She worked hard and diligently on her studies every day. She had even attended cram school during middle school, studying advanced material.

For Ami, swimming was her outlet and an escape from her world of books and research. It allowed her to step back into the real world; obsession with studying was something Ami had had trouble with in the past, so she did everything she could to prevent that from happening again.

In essence, swimming was more than just exercise for her. It was something she could just keep getting better at, no matter how hard she pushed herself. But there were no grades when swimming alone, like she did. She didn't have to worry about averages in the pool. And well, it was just very enjoyable.

_'I haven't been able to swim for a while, though,'_ she mused inwardly. _'Perhaps I should make room in my schedule.' _She hadn't been able to swim as much lately, because she was preparing for her University Admission tests. She needed to pass them to get into the medical field. Sometimes the amount of material seemed endless, even to Ami.

She sighed softly at this – currently she was not feeling up to studying, not at all. Maybe she would just enjoy herself today. It was late anyway – most people were already at home. Not to mention she was five chapters ahead of schedule on every subject – at least – so she could afford to. In the end though, despite the chaos of studying and the slight bite to the late afternoon wind, Ami always enjoyed the twenty minute walk from high school to her home. She was glad she had this to look forward to.

"Mizuno-san, irashaimase!" a voice suddenly called out, breaking Ami from her reverie. She blinked and looked up, surprised to see that she had wandered into her local tea establishment, Morihan, while in thought.

A small part of her wanted to smile wryly at her inattention, but she kept herself in check. _'I guess I really need a break.'_

Yamamoto Masaru was a kindly old man who had been involved in the brewing of tea since he was a little boy. As Ami returned his smile politely and turned to browse his products, he observed her fondly. There were no other customers in currently, so he was free to lounge a bit.

It had been months since the petite girl had first entered his shop, but she hadn't changed a bit. Her blue hair was cropped short, reaching to the middle of her neck, and she sported a set of eyes just as blue. As usual she was in her school uniform, not surprising since she always stopped by on her way home from high school. The bow and skirt were both navy blue, as well as her collar which was adorned with a few white stripes. The rest of the uniform was white as well, including her socks, topped off with blue shoes.

His eyes rested on the skirt a little longer than the rest of the outfit, wrinkling his nose in apprehension. It was so short! Masaru simply couldn't fathom why it needed to have this length in the first place. Back in his day, women had worn much longer skirts than the youngsters of today did. He often wondered what the school board, or whatever official that was responsible for school uniforms, was thinking. Ami seemed unfazed by it, though. He figured she was used to it.

It wasn't long before Ami puttered up to the counter, with a slew of instant green tea as usual. Always sensible, she had chosen this particular kind because it was very healthy and nutritious. It also helped her with studying by boosting her abilities, particularly memorizing and concentrating. Masaru just smiled and shook his head ruefully.

"Mizuno-san, I will have to convince you to _prepare_ tea someday."

She blushed and averted her eyes for a moment; she knew it was mostly a joke, but even though she was now eighteen she could have a hard time with friendly banter. There hadn't been much of that in the past years. She always chose instant tea because it gave her more time to study. This was also why she preferred to eat sandwiches over anything else: they didn't take long to make and she only needed one hand to eat them, leaving her other hand free for leafing through pages or taking notes.

By the time Ami dared to look up again, Masaru had already finished processing her purchase. "That will be 1500 yen." he said kindly. Ami promptly paid for her tea. She had already calculated the price long before she even walked up to the counter. She briefly acknowledged a little ring behind her, which meant a customer had walked in, before she replied.

"Arigato gozaimasu, Yamamoto-san." She bowed her head just slightly in thanks.

_'Polite, as always.' _"Dou itashi mashite, Mizuno-san. Take care." He gave her one more smile before he turned to the entrance of his shop. "Irashaimase! Can I help you?" he called out politely.

Ami had just turned around and was on her way out when she saw the new customer. The blue-haired genius couldn't help but stare for a moment, trying to understand the style of clothing. It was sunny outside and yet this person's face was almost completely covered. A black hoodie hid any hair he or she might have. There was a chance they had a cold, she mused.

The black hoodie was attached to a black vest that was mostly zipped up, revealing the slightest hint of a dark green shirt underneath. A set of black slacks and deep brown shoes completed the dark look. The person's hands were hidden, buried deep in the vest's pockets.

Realizing she was staring at the customer, she blushed momentarily in embarrassment and made for the exit. That is, until she tried to pass the stranger. Ami's expression changed to one of puzzlement when she found her way blocked by the person she'd stared at before. Ami had never coped too well with people in her personal space and stepped back, hoping her stare hadn't offended this person, but the tall stranger moved right along with her.

Before she knew what was going on, the new customer stepped forward quickly and grabbed her shoulder. She was spun her around so quickly it took her a moment to regain her bearings. When she did, she was surprised to see Masaru, eyeing the person behind her in confusion. The bluenette was then pulled back against the stranger's body, the hand on her shoulder snaking around her body and holding her in a firm grip. Ami stiffened at the contact, while Masaru looked on in shock as the new customer's free hand emerged from the vest's pocket and pressed something to Ami's head.

Yamamoto realized with a sinking feeling in his gut that it was a small firearm.

"Hai, I think you _could_ help me," a low voice rumbled from the hooded customer. "All of your yen will do."

Masaru swallowed hard, he knew there was an order in that sentence. His gaze flickered briefly to his phone, sitting on the counter to his right. Ami felt the grip around her arms tighten and the object aimed at her head dig into her skin a little more.

"Yamamoto-san, wasn't it?" The man in question froze at the new, dangerous undertone in the stranger's voice. "I suggest you start putting all of your yen into that bag over there," At this they inclined their head to the Morihan bags on the counter. "_Now_."

As Masaru opened his register and started bagging it, Ami looked on in shock. She was rooted in place by mortal fear and try as she might, her racing mind was doing her no good. The object pressed to her right temple sent a chill through her every time the stranger behind her moved, even if the movement was barely noticeable. She closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to fight the panic threatening to rise to the surface. She knew her attempt was failing when she heard her own quick breath and felt her body trembling in her captor's unwavering grip.

_'I don't want to die!'_ her mind screamed. _'Kami-sama, save me! Help me!'_

She opened her eyes when the stranger behind her spoke again, "Good. Now set it on the counter and then back away." It seemed Yamamoto had finished stuffing the bag with his hard-earned profits and she could only watch fearfully when he complied, hands raised in a pacifying gesture. Suddenly her captor pushed her forward and she let out an uncontrolled squeak of fright. A low grumble reached her from the hooded person. "Move, girl."

Ami walked forward tentatively until she was at the counter, wondering what would happen next. _'Kami-sama…'_

"Pick up the bag."

Swallowing hard, Ami did as instructed. She moved her tearful eyes to the shopkeeper, hoping to convey an apology. His smile was barely there, but slightly reassuring. She then gasped in fear when the stranger's hold on her body tightened even more.

"Yamamoto-san," the person started sternly. "You better not send the keisatsu after me, or 'Mizuno-san' here will die. Understand?" Ami's eyes widened in terror at the threat and her trembling got a little worse.

"H-hai…onegai shimasu, do not harm-" Masaru started, but was interrupted.

"Damare!" the robber hissed out. "Do as you're told and she won't be harmed. Now move to the corner over there," There was another quick nod of the head, this time to the back of the store. "Or I will kill both of you." The stranger made sure to emphasize every word of the threat.

Masaru nearly tripped over his own feet in his haste to comply.

Ami was startled when her captor tugged her again and hastily moved in the direction she was forced into. Yamamoto-san slipped from her line of sight as the robber pushed her to the back exit of the shop. She whimpered almost silently – whoever was dragging her wasn't letting her go. _'Kami-sama!'_

She was pushed through the back of the shop and through the back door, to emerge into an alleyway. They took a few quick turns deeper into the maze until she came face to face with a small black car, tucked away into a wide alley close to the road. Suddenly her terrified mind realized she wasn't going to be released and she eyed the vehicle apprehensively, stopping in place. The person at her back grunted, seemingly in irritation, and tried to push her forward forcefully.

This sent Ami's mind into pure panic and before she knew it, she was struggling against the hold of her captor. The logical part of Ami would tell her that struggling wasn't a good idea, but that side of her was now being overruled by baser instincts. In this case, Ami was desperate to escape. As she squirmed, the grip on her body became so tight that she nearly felt the nails digging into her arm.

"Yamero!" the stranger hissed into her ear, cocking the firearm threateningly. Ami didn't listen.

"Iie, iie!" she forced out through a sob, her tears finally flowing. "I don't want to die!"

She struggled vehemently, but the robber's grip seemed unbreakable. She heard an irritated growl from her captor and before she knew it, she was shoved forward and fell to the ground face-first. She only just managed to put up her hands in time to cushion the blow. Momentarily dazed by the sudden impact and movement, she was caught off-guard when something connected with the back of her skull and everything went black.

* * *

><p>Well, that's it. I know this one is shorter than Terminal Velocity's Chapter 1, and for that I apologize. I just couldn't seem to make it longer without losing the pace. Fortunately I'm told a word count of just over 2,000 isn't too bad. *ahem*<p>

Morihan is an existing company that sells tea, but it's a much larger franchise than what I showed it as here.

Masaru is the first name of Morihan's proclaimed 'Tea Master' (what a title) – I changed the last name because I don't want him shown as a shopkeeper.

As always, feel free to review and give me constructive criticism (or just plain criticism) so I can become a better writer.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, ja (mate) ne! (see you later)


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